Crustless Breakfast Tarts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

posted by Kalyn Denny on September 28, 2014

Crustless Breakfast Tarts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese were inspired by a new tart pan from Williams Sonoma! And this breakfast idea is low-carb, Keto, low-glycemic, gluten-free, meatless, and South Beach Diet friendly! Use the Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one.

Recently my sister Laurel gave me a very generous gift card for William-Sonoma, a store that’s always a wonderful splurge for me. (Thanks Laurel!) So I went to the Salt Lake William-Sonoma (where my friend Bobbyanne is the manager) and started looking around for something fun. They happened to be having a sale on bakeware, and when I spotted a fabulous tart pan I experienced one of those unexplainable flashes of cooking inspiration and my mind went immediately to a custardy egg mixture baked in the shape of a tart.

It took several tries to come up with these delicious Crustless Breakfast Tarts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese, but I loved this for a savory breakfast treat, and I can tell the new tart pan will be inspiring more interesting egg dishes.

But what if you don’t want to buy a special tart pan just to make this dish? Use large muffin cups or individual gratin dishes to bake this delicious mixture of eggs, goat cheese, cream, Parmesan, mushrooms, green onions, and Mozzarella. My breakfast tarts are about 4 1/2 inches across, so if you bake in something smaller you might have to increase the baking time a couple of minutes for a thicker tart. If you like mushrooms and goat cheese, I promise that this is a lovely way to start the day!

This is the gorgeous Williams-Sonoma Tart Pan that inspired the recipe. (For the record, Williams-Sonoma doesn’t know I’m alive and they haven’t sponsored this post. I’m just providing the link to the pan for anyone who’s interested; I don’t make a dime if you buy the pan. But I bet you will love it as much as I do, maybe Santa can bring one?)

You want the custard mixture to be room temperature when you bake it, so make that first. It’s important to let the goat cheese soften and then mix in the beaten eggs a little at a time. Season the mixture with the Spike Seasoning and pepper.

Saute the mushrooms until they’re nicely brown (and all liquid has evaporated) and then divide mushrooms between the 6 tarts.

Fill the wells in the tart pan with the custard mixture, then sprinkle green onions and grated mozzarella over each. Bake 25-27 minutes, or until the tops are starting to brown.

Notes:

These breakfast tarts will keep in the fridge for at least a week and can be reheated in a microwave or hot toaster oven. (It only takes just over a minute in my microwave; don’t microwave too long or the eggs will get rubbery.)

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Crustless Breakfast Tarts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese are perfect for low-carb or Keto diets. The tart has low-glycemic ingredients and goat cheese is relatively low in fat, but the South Beach Diet would recommend using low-fat milk and Mozzarella for this recipe. With those cautions, I think this would be great for any phase of South Beach.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

I make something similar using a cupcake tray all the time! Except I don't sautee the mushrooms before hand – I just chop as many veggies as I'd like (usually peppers, mushrooms & spinach) and then pour a beaten egg on top.

What you're describing sounds like what I call Egg Muffins. I've been making those since about 2005, but the texture of these tarts is more like a custard. Both are delicious, but these Breakfast Tarts are a little richer and I love the look of the scalloped edges. So many fun things to do with eggs, right?

You say "It's important to let the goat cheese soften and then mix in the beaten eggs a little at a time." Can you tell me why it's important? The eggs aren't whipped like whites are so I am puzzled. Thank you for the recipe!!

Emm, I only mean that it's hard to mix the eggs, goat cheese, and parmesan to a smooth consistency if the goat cheese isn't soft. But if you don't mind chunks of goat cheese through out the mixture it will be fine. I do think the dish will have a more custardy texture if the ingredients are mixed better though.

Oh wow, I love the sound of this recipe, but gotta say – also covet that pan! I've always used the little individual ones – having them all in one pan is brilliantly practical. Adding to Santa's list . . .

I love the idea of these, but I do not like goat cheese. I usually substitute out in recipes, but this one is unique in that you are mixing it with the liquids to make a custard. Any suggestion on a substitute? Feta? I would make these in a heartbeat otherwise!

I don't use store bought mixed spices, they usually contain more salt than I would use. I'm fortunate enough to be close to a spice store that mixes all their own blends, many without salt. To make up for less salt in this recipe I substituted Feta Cheese for the goat cheese. Between the Feta and Parmesan that was more than enough salt for me. The rest of the recipe was very good and I'll be making this again.

Even my picky 5 1/2 year old said, “I don’t ‘LIKE’ it, I LOVE it!!” even wanted seconds 🙂 My husband I were both pleasantly surprised.. I made this in an 8″ Emile Henrie and also a 5 inch square stoneware baking dish for the “overflow” so just goes to show how flexible your recipes are. We’re thinking of adding asparagus, next time. although I have a feeling your original recipe will be preferred. Thanks, again!! <3